Banquet Offers Perspective on Being a Woman in Medicine

Is there a “good” time for a woman training to be a doctor to get pregnant? What approach should a woman physician take when negotiating salaries in a male-dominated field? How does the “Couples Match” for residency work? These are a handful of the questions that female medical students had the opportunity to discuss with women doctors who “have been there” at the recent banquet hosted by Einstein’s chapter of the American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA). Nearly 50 medical students from Einstein joined 12 women physicians from the College of Medicine, Weiler Hospital and Montefiore Medical Center for an evening dedicated to women in medicine.

The banquet began with networking over dinner in the Faculty Dining Club, in the Harold and Muriel Block building. The attendees then heard Dr. Nadine Katz speak about the need to continue advocating for women in medicine.

Dr. Katz, who is medical director, Einstein campus, at Montefiore Medical Center and former Einstein senior associate dean for student academic affairs, discussed the disparities in pay among men and women, as well as the lack of leadership roles for women, especially in academic medicine. She stressed the importance of finding good mentors and urged the students to look up to the women physicians in the room.

Dr. Katz’s presentation was followed by a “speed mentoring” session. With each physician stationed at a table dedicated to a particular lifestyle issue that women face in their medical careers, the medical students rotated among these tables, every 15 minutes, where they could garner insights about each topic.

“The banquet was a unique experience for us,” said Einstein AMWA chapter board member Lauren Tannenbaum. “We rarely have outlets to ask personal questions, such as when there’s an appropriate time to get pregnant during residency, or what it’s like to be a woman in a male-dominated specialty. We’re so appreciative of how willing the physicians were to speak about their lifestyles and the challenges they face as women in medicine.”